JOIN USWearing a big grin, Marame clambers into the small electric sports car and drives off -- to the operating theatre.
The five-year-old girl is a patient at the public hospital in the northern French city of Valenciennes, which has begun using toys rather than drugs to alleviate children's fears of surgery.
The new scheme is for youngsters aged 18 months to eight years. The playful approach, implemented in December, has wiped out the need for anti-anxiety medication often administered before an operation, according to the hospital.
"It allows (children) to arrive in the operating theatre in a fun manner and avoids the stress associated with the context," anaesthetist Fanny Defrancq said.
Sitting on a hospital bed, Marame looks worried ahead of her surgery to remove a metal pin inserted into her arm after she broke her elbow. But then a nurse comes in and leads her to three small vehicles parked in the corridor.
"Which one do you prefer?" the nurse asks Marame, dressed in a blue hospital gown and with a white cap covering her hair. After carefully inspecting the models and testing out their horns, the little girl gets behind the wheel of a black racing car and cruises off under the envious glances of other young patients.
A remote control in hand, a medical staff member steers Marame down hallways and around corners all the way to the operating theatre.
"She doesn't even take any notice of me," says her bemused mother, Hassiba Mazouzi, after giving her a last hug.
The distraction method has seen a major drop in children's anxiety and led to an 80% decrease in the use of medication, the Rennes hospital said.
"Children's self-evaluation with emoticons showed that anxiety curves were very low and stable," a doctor said.
AFP